The Michigan Opera Theatre will be producing the opera The Passenger during its fall 2015 opera season. The Passenger was composed by Polish born composer, Mieczyslaw Weinberg, and the libretto is based on the Polish radio play Pasażerka z kabiny 45 (Passenger from Cabin Number 45) (1959) by Auschwitz survivor and novelist Zofia Posmysz.
The Passenger is a profoundly important experience on many levels. The opera is the representation of events at the Nazi German camp at Auschwitz, as told by a Polish prisoner and eyewitness. The opera portrays a battle of wills between a Polish prisoner and her SS guard. It is also the touching love story of two Polish prisoners, Marta and Tadeusz. The opera is a tapestry of Polish themes, among them: a gift of flowers, a heroic deception, underground resistance and defiance, faith and a prayer for a noble death, remembrance as a summons to a moral accounting. And the music of Mieczyslaw Weinberg is exquisitely expressive and moving.
Members of the Friends of Polish Art have met with Dr. David DiChiera, Founder and Artistic Director of the Michigan Opera Theatre, to discuss this production. Dr. DiChiera has asked the Polish community to raise $100,000, a portion of the production costs.
Based on these discussions, Friends of Polish Art is excited to spread the word about this opera woven with Polish themes and to encourage all of Polonia to support the production both financially and with its attendance at the performances to be held on November 14, 18, 21 and 22. We are asking for donations toward this worthy cause. Friends of Polish Art has pledged $10,000 in support of The Passenger.
Please consider making a donation. We realize there are many ways by which you can spend your money, but FPA encourages you to be generous toward this very worthwhile project.
